Feeling Unlimited, Part 1: Athletes Unlimited Softball League Deploys Remote Production for 10-City Tour, Engages Fans With In-Depth Access World-feed model produced by GameTime Productions, sent to ESPN and MLB Network By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor Friday, June 20, 2025 - 7:00 am
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The game of softball is in a great place at the moment: this year's Women's College World Series was the most-watched on record and was up 13% from 2024's edition, the sport will be reintroduced on a global scale at the 2028 Summer Olympics after being omitted in Paris last summer, and a new professional league is sprouting at the perfect time to provide an avenue for the best athletes to continue their careers
Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL), a branch of Athletes Unlimited's wide portfolio of properties, launched on June 7 with four teams playing 48 total games in 10 cities across the country. Given the touring nature of this first season and wanting the product to remain consistent on ESPN linear networks and various MLB-produced platforms (MLB Network, MLB.com, MLB.TV), the league is producing a majority of its games remotely, from GameTime Productions' centralized facility in Nashville.
It has always been the mindset of the company to produce every game that we play, says Cheri Kempf, chief broadcasting officer, Athletes Unlimited. A lot of people have worked very hard and have accepted nothing less than high performances every night.
Music City Home: Nashville-Based Control Room Handles World-Feed-Style Production Aiming to bring highly competitive softball to the masses, the league is hosting games from venue in 10 U.S. cities: The Stadium at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, IL; Wilkins Stadium in Wichita, KS; McMurry Park in Sulphur, LA; Jim Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, TN; Love's Field in Norman, OK; Connie Claussen Field in Omaha, NE; Husky Softball Stadium in Seattle; Dumke Family Softball Stadium in Salt Lake City; Dell Diamond in Round Rock, TX; and Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL.
GameTime Productions' control room in Nashville on Opening Night June 7
It's a departure from what Athletes Unlimited has done in the past. Two separate events under the Athletes Unlimited umbrella - Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball and Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball AUX - promoted individual-based play and rewarded a single champion. The former, which originally took place Aug. 20-Sept. 28, 2020, in Rosemont, has been rebranded the AUSL All-Star Cup and will occur after the AUSL season. The four-week competition Aug. 2-31 will host four games in three days at Ting Stadium in Holly Springs, NC; two games in one day at Max R. Joyner Family Stadium in Greenville, NC; and the remaining 15 games in nine days in Rosemont.
Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball AUX, an additional two-week-long competition, played its first edition June 13-26, 2022, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Now promoting team-based play with four teams - Bandits, Blaze, Talons, and Volts - the seven-week-long AUSL will replace AUX on the league's calendar.
Transitioning from one location to many in an elongated season, the league decided on remote production as the best course of action and tapped GameTime Productions, a Live Media Group property that provides a dedicated team of professionals for fully produced live events, and the services of GameTime Productions President Patricia Lowry. Kempf oversees overall direction of the broadcast as Lowry handles crewing and logistical needs. Nearly every game of this inaugural season, excluding a full onsite production of the three-game championship series in Tuscaloosa July 26-28, will be produced remotely from control rooms at GameTime Productions' facility in Nashville.
Athlete Unlimited Senior Producer Casey Carter and Director, Broadcast Production and Distribution, Holly Scott are key to the overall cutting of the show from the control rooms. ESPN VP, Programming and Acquisitions, Ashley O'Connor and Director, Programming and Acquisitions, Rick Mace are critical to the ongoing partnership in the league's first year. We feel fortunate to draw from their expertise and have them in the room, says Kempf. They've produced many of our sports and are true professionals.
The games are produced via a world-feed model for two national broadcasters - ESPN and MLB Network - with the feed sent to their respective facilities in Bristol, CT, and Secaucus, NJ. Feeds are sent to regional and over-the-air distributors as well. Every non-ESPN and non-MLB Network broadcast, a total of 27 games, will be televised on FanDuel Sports Network, MSG Networks, and Fox 32 Chicago. Twenty-four games will air on NESN, NESN+, and NESN Nation; 2 games, on Marquee Sports Network; 19, on All-Women's Sports Network; and 10, on SportsNet Pittsburgh and SportsNet Pittsburgh+.
A valuable production partner is important not only to the production but also in alleviating the pressure of working in venues of different technological capabilities. For example, Husky Softball Stadium, home of the University of Washington's Division I program in the Big Ten Conference, can accommodate high-quality productions, but other venues may not have the same infrastructure or connectivity, presenting significant challenges on game day.
Different venues come with different demands, notes Kempf. We're seeing challenges that we've never dealt with before, but that comes with introducing a new league in its first season.
It's in the Game: Real-Time Player Interviews Supplement Standard Camera Complement With the focus on producing softball the right way, the league is opting for a standard camera complement in its first season. Leaning toward a crawl-walk-run approach, the crew
